Brainstorming your PSA

In groups, students brainstorm initial ideas for persuasive techniques to use in their PSA.

Regroup the class, and explain that sharing ideas is essential for
crafting a powerful PSA. As individual members of a group, it will be
the responsibility of every student to generate ideas and share these
with others.

Explain that students will each be creating an individual concept
plan for their group’s PSA. Since their ideas are still in the ‘initial
concept phase’, they should by now have a sense of how the PSA will work
as a whole, but they may not have answers to every question. For
example, they might know they want to include music, but not know what
song. Or they might know they need a powerful statistic, but not know
which one to use.

Share with students an example “concept plan” for a PSA. The
concept plan envisions what the viewer will see and hear throughout the
PSA.

Example Plan

We see

We hear

Text: Imagine your life without an education

No audio

Door slamming shut

Text: Your career

Start of “Better Days” by The Goo Goo Dolls

Text: You’d have no chance.

Song continues

Another door slamming shut.

Text: Your future

Song continues

Text: But everyone deserves a chance.

Song continues

Another door slamming shut

Text: Your life

Song continues

Statistic or fact

Song continues

More doors slamming

Song continues

Text: They need your help.

Song continues

Info about The Inter-Country People’s Aid

Song continues

End with text: It’s so simple. It’s so SMART.

Song continues

Point out that while this example plan is clear, there are still
some questions unanswered. The point is to plan out ideas as clearly as
possible, even if some questions remain.

Students work independently, developing and planning out their own
concept for a PSA, creating a t-chart modeled after the example plan
provided.

Students should be prepared to share their concept plan with their group the following day.